Timberwolves 121 Warriors 120: Beat Up

Mark Jackson ranted a bit about the Warriors defense after this loss to the Timberwolves, but I don’t believe the Warriors have the horses right now to play the defense they played earlier in the season. This is one beat-up team. With a very shallow bench, particularly across the front line.

Bogut: He’s not recovered from the knee strain he suffered against the Pacers. I saw him limping around in the fourth quarter.

He would have struggled regardless. I wrote earlier in the season, after watching him get moved around like a rag doll by DeMarcus Cousins, that while dropping a lot of weight in the offseason helped Bogut with the health of his ankle, it has cost him considerably in terms of strength in the low post. Big Pek simply overran him. Snacked on him.

11-18. Yum, yum.

Lee: Took 2 anti-inflammatory shots in his sprained left shoulder in order to suit up for Love and Pekovic. That’s standard around the league, right?

He’s overpaid. We need to get rid of him, make room for Barnes.

I wonder if that’s still what “the majority of Warriors fans” believe? Does Ethan Strauss poll them continuously?

Iggy: Kevin Martin, 26 points on 10-17. His best game in two months.

Here’s a little hint to those who don’t understand what’s happened to the Warriors defense: If Iggy can’t guard, then the Warriors can’t guard.

And if Iggy, Bogut and Lee are all three banged up, then just be very grateful you’ve got Stephen Curry on your team, and try — as the Warriors did on this night, despite the protestations of their coach — to win with your offense.

By the way, did you notice that Mark Jackson chose to guard KMart with Klay Thompson instead of Iggy, on that fateful final play? He hid Iggy on Corey Brewer.

Curry: Despite the fourth quarter boo boos, simply playing at an unbelievably high level right now. The pick and rolls are getting better and better, works of art.

I wrote early on in Curry’s career, in response to those who doubted that he was a point guard, that if he ever got a legitimate big man to throw it to in pick and roll, his assist totals would explode.

They’re exploding.

Barnes: It’s no fun kicking a guy when he’s down. I’m not the guy howling in the wilderness anymore. Barnes is getting crucified by the general public, and even the Warriors media seems to be noticing that something’s up.

It’s clear that Barnes has completely lost his confidence on offense. He’s shooting .317 from the field in the last 10 games, and is down to .416 for the season. For a small forward, that’s… not good.

What is a bit of a mystery is that his drive — that so electrified the faithful in his rookie season — seems to have completely disappeared. I think he’s been scouted this season, and teams are sending an early second defender when he puts the ball on the floor. Because when you do that, something good is going to happen. Like a turnover.

Barnes handle and playmaking abilities haven’t improved at all from his rookie season, and I’m not optimistic about future progress. I know he’s young, but I also know that these areas are difficult to improve in those without aptitude.

It’s a bit ironic that he’s getting the goat treatment from fans today, because I thought this was one of his better all-around performances this season. He was extremely active on defense, and even went for two shot blocks — a rarity — getting one.

There’s a reason he was +13 for the night, that obviously had nothing to do with his wretched offensive contributions. For some mysterious reason, the starters were strongly negative with Klay to start the first and third quarters, and then strongly positive with Barnes when Klay was taken out.

Maybe it was as simple as taking Klay off Rubio — a nonsensical assignment as Rubio can’t shoot, and beat Klay off the drive all night. The Warriors guarded the TWolves conventionally when Barnes was brought in.

Speights: Amazing what playing with a point guard can do for a big man, isn’t it?

Green: 2-2 on free throws. Bounced the second one in off of the front rim. #Feltbot’sLaw

Restrained himself from throwing up wild shots, looking instead to set up his teammates. Played a bit of point-forward. 5 assists.

One might almost think… nah.

Crawford: Yes, Mark Jackson, yes. High pick and roll.

Looked pretty good, didn’t it?

Minutes are going to be very tough to come by for him. He can’t play the Jarrett Jack role, because Iggy.

Or can he? What’s to keep the Warriors from playing more smallball? I mean, besides Joe Lacob and Mark Jackson?

Even those two reactionaries might change their minds if the Warriors’ bigs don’t heal up soon.

Mark Jackson: I was very pleasantly surprised by how much the Warriors looked to run last night. Long outlets over halfcourt. (Finally utilizing the phenomenal outlet passing ability of Bogut and Lee.) Players leaking out right and left. Pushing the tempo.

27 fast break points!

Outcome aside, this was a beautifully played basketball game, by two phenomenal offensive teams.

192 Responses to Timberwolves 121 Warriors 120: Beat Up

Feltbot (or anybody): can you make a case why Barnes’ defense was good last night? The stats don’t tell us much.

A repeat of my comments on the last post, edited, since no one goes back and I spent a whole half hour on it. Feel free to pull, or, better, criticize.

I don’t want to trash Barnes. I just think we’re coming to terms with what we should have known all along, that he isn’t that good—yet, or ever. I suspect his postseason performance last year should be downgraded simply because it depended on too many special conditions that aren’t repeated over the course of a season, against other teams. The hype hasn’t done anyone any good, most Barnes.

My other interest is that we don’t have good ways to measure offensive potential, what a player can offer on the floor, so below, my shot at Barnes. Stats don’t tell the whole story. In the case of Barnes, it isn’t very much.

Barnes, by a quick count, is shooting 32% the last 20 games, 41% on 3′s. That 41% is pretty good, but it can’t be compared against Curry or Klay’s %. Barnes will only shoot the 3 when he is dead open and has time to compose himself, largely catch and shoot. Curry and Klay, of course, often create their shots, and do so quickly. Their % under similar circumstances would be much higher.

His overall shooting is 32%, which is dismal. But this still needs to be qualified. Many shots he takes are ill advised—drives or pull-up jumpers that he can’t complete in traffic. But many shots are sure things, open dunks, etc., where he should shoot well.

Here is his heat map this season (scroll down—I never said I didn’t like graphs):

But qualify this more. He best scores when things are set up for him by other players—when matched against smaller players, when given open looks, etc. He can only perform well under light competitive stress. And because of his limitations, he can only perform under certain strategies—isolations, where he is not effective, or having him stand in the corner for an open shot. What this means is that he is putting demands on the overall team strategy to justify his presence, and that the overall offense suffers accordingly because he is limiting its flexibility.

What isn’t counted is the number of times Barnes passes up shots good players can hit, but instead passes out. If he took them, his effective % would be even lower. And by passing them up, he passes the burden of offense off on the other four players—a low percentage option with the subs. Add to this his inability to set up other players.

What all this means is that he detracts from the offensive potential of the team. He is a passive drain.

Barnes, btw, is 33% from 16 feet to the 3 point line this season, not a good percentage. But his overall offensive effectiveness is diminished even more when you realize he is not good driving from there and at least drawing a foul (71% FT) or moving in for a closer shot. From 10 to 16 feet, he is 32%.

He shouldn’t be on the floor crunch time.

Barnes is in a downward spiral with the team. His numbers would improve if he were started, thus surrounded by good supporting players, and given more shots and minutes, but he doesn’t offer enough vs. the other players to justify that.

But the less he is played, and the more he is played with the weak subs, the worse his performance will be and he won’t develop.

Either they find a way to improve his weaknesses, and playing him more is not an option—

I REALLY don’t buy into the notion that Barnes was secretly good in this game, certainly not based on plus minus. It’s simply not a useful stat in that sample size compared to box score analysis (or just the eye test).

Completely agree about Iguodala’s defense though. By far the most worrying aspect of this recent stretch of losses.

Does there really have to be a deep reason? Can’t it just be because other players were doing stuff while Barnes was watching? I think retroactively searching for some hidden reason a bench player with an awful box score was actually a net positive based on plus minus isn’t a sound way to reason about a single game. Barnes RAPM on the season is absolutely horrific BTW.

Look at the graph line. Barnes’ first stint, it holds roughly even. The line falls sharply 3rd. Q as the other players score and build a quick lead. But once the starters leave, 4th. Q, it rises sharply again, giving the lead to Minnesota.

Actually I think Curry had a pretty good look there for about two seconds (I believe he was being single covered by Love at one point?). He kinda dribbled himself into that double team. Still gave Barnes as good a shot as you can possibly hope for under the circumstances though.

In defending shots at the rim, Green ranks 37th best in the league @ 48.3% (opposition shooting pct.). For comparison, Bogut is decent @ 44.8%, 15th in the league overall. Lee is at 50%, worse than James Harden. Oddly, the very best player by this stat is Kendrick Perkins @ 35.8%. Which only proves once again that you can’t judge an individual player’s overall contribution by a single figure. Perkins has some great help defending the rim.

82games.com says Green’s been most effective at center. There he shows a “Net 48-minute PER” of +16.2, compared to Bogut’s +3.7. In other positions, Green’s Net PER is negative. Note that “Net PER” is very dependent on the opposition, the role of the player, and overall team results. Green is not a starting C, and won’t beat Bogut in that role. But if Green’s Net PER at center means what I think it does, it lends credence to Feltbot’s view that the Ws most effective lineup has Lee and Green at the bigs. Here’s what I mean:

By 82games’ assessment, Green’s net PER is negative at PF (presumably next to Speights) but hugely positive at C (presumably next to Lee).

Whatever. If Net PER is a flawed measure, presumably it’s flawed in the same way for all players on both sides of the ball. A bad thermometer is wrong everywhere, but still tells you which room is warmest.

I’d like to see Green play more, though as Feltie has pointed out, trying to project a player’s short-minutes results into a larger role is iffy. Green’s per-minute numbers would undoubtedly decrease in a larger role, with more fatigue, more time against starting opponents, with opposing coaches game-planning against him.

It’s even possible that Green gets his good results only because he breaks the mold, disrupting the game-as-usual routine. He definitely does that. He is a very unusual player.

Still, it would be nice to find out what Green could do with more PT. And since the answer is in on Barnes (beyond any doubt), there doesn’t seem to be any reason not to give Draymond some of his minutes.

It is funny you mention the activity of Barnes because I’ve posted previously that I see the activity with some regularity. What I also see is a complete lack of awareness of what is coming next (e.g.screens, back cuts, reverse pivot pin-downs) and what to do about it. I think he also looks active because for all his vertical explosion, his lateral quickness and agility is lacking and he looks like he is working hard ( and he may be working hard) but his effectiveness is only ok. If you want the antithesis of this issue look at We Believe! Stephen Jackson. I’m not sure he could jump a lick but his ability to move his feet was so good it was like an optical illusion.

+1
He’s shot so poorly in the last few games that people are starting to take notice of his terrible play, but I think that amounts to making the right call for the wrong reasons. By far his biggest problem is his lack of court awareness and vision. Really kills ball movement on ball and seems incapable of contributing off ball other than camping in the corner and hitting the occasional three.

Nice analysis Feltbot,
Is it any wonder Minny on it’s first possession decided to post up Pekovic? Bogut was no match, although I’ll admit this was a better performance than the 2pt 5reb 6foul performance in 16min the last time they met.
Both warrior bigs were banged up going into the game. One held his man to 39% shooting, the other watched his man shoot 61%. One also scored 23 while the othet had 8. Whose the best big on both ends? Lee that’s who.

Can’t help but feel sorry for Barnes though. The unnecessary hype by the warrior press seem to have garnered unwanted attention for the young man. He’s trying to live up to the hype and it’s back firing. Hopefully, the missed shot will ignite something in him. I wish him luck.

Lee shouldn’t be in the game for defense, period. Especially on the perimeter against Kevin Love and Kevin Martin. Sub in Green or Barnes – who can actually help Klay switch defensively – to contest KMarts wide open shot. How can he miss? KMart is deadly when wide open…

And Bogut’s man had a field day cleaning up the boards on the shot block – as Lee didn’t bother to block out or help. Pek had a nice shooting game, but how many freebies did he get while Bogut blocked (count 7) and contested shots?

Great…blame Lee for Boguts inability to defend. You don’t leave an 18ppg player to provide ‘help’ period. Also Pek didn’t just have a nice shooting game, he had nice post moves…against bogut. Speights would’ve done a better job on him.
And yes, Lee was the right guy to defend Love on that final possession. He held love to 7/18 shooting. Can’t blame him for Klay loosing his man.

I don’t know where you get that Andrew Bogut can’t defend. He’s an elite defensive center and an underrated offensive player… Yes, setting picks, BBIQ, passing to cutters, ball handling, offensive rebounding, and finishing – are things Bogut does very well on offense – shooting? Nope. Compare this to Andrea Bargnani – who can periodically shoot the lights out – but he can’t do much else…

Barnes was so wide open at the end and he had an absolute carpool lane to the hoop for a dunk with plenty of time. 1 dribble two steps, a flush, GAME OVER! Dude needs a red bull in the worst way. He isn’t even Corey Maggette light worthy. What a shame!

Crawford’s three point looks on this talented Ws team – will be more like free throws – and these percentages will improve as did Jarret Jack’s and Iggy’s have… Stop Curry, Klay, first – then someone else will be open.

Harrison Barnes’ 10-game slump is less than the Ws playoff run where Harrison Barnes was Playoff Barnes – tearing up PFs in a spread offense and either sticking threes at near 40 percent, driving past a slow PF to finish at the bucket, or posting up a PG. Barnes best position is a stretch 4, not a SF. Barnes’ handle and court awareness is weak for a SF, but good for a PF. Corey Brewer can shut Barnes down. Kevin Love? Never.

Green will always be a great role player. A perfect back-up PF. But his shooting percentage is abysmal. From two point land. And I’m being nice… McGuire with a better perimeter shot and passing ability. If I were defending the Ws, I’d just play off of Green and let him go ahead and shoot from the perimeter. Or foul him.

Hall of Famer Don Nelson was completely accurate when he reiterated that David Lee can’t guard anybody. And Niners Coach Jim Harbaugh prefers, “Nobody.” Sure center Pek had a great shooting game, but how many freebies did he have when Andrew Bogut had to leave his man to stop penetration from Lee’s or Curry’s men? I say run David Lee in the pick and roll EVERY play offensively (beautiful, efficient, effective use of Lee’s pnr finishing and passing ability) – until he’s absolutely exhausted, then sub him with Barnes – because you’ll never get a lick of defense out of Lee except hiding him on a bad offensive player/center. Love can spread the floor offensively extending Lee out to the three… Love can draw 14 free throws… Lee can’t reciprocate much. Losing when scoring 120 or so points is frustating. Shooting over 50, 40, and 85 at home and losing? Entertaining as all hell to watch though!

Go ahead simpletons and blame Klay for allowing KMart’s game winner. You’d be inaccurate. It was Lee who screened Klay out of the play and isn’t fast enough to switch. I’ll repeat – Lee’s too slow to switch on KMart. I’ll be consistent and blame Lee who shouldn’t be in the game if he’s not running the pick and roll on offense because he can’t defend. Simpletons will say Love didn’t score that play – battle won, but war lost. If Green or Barnes were in the play at PF, maybe a different result?

Curry’s and Lee’s defense paired together is troubling. Iggy is an elite defender when healthy – methinks he’s getting better, but not yet. Klay is solid defensively. And Bogut is an elite defender. 7 blocks? Lee is no help on that end of the court…

I’m ready to see more Crawford in the Jarret Jack role. Especially with Iggy healing…

Speaking of Iggy and his supposed missing clutch gene. Nice to see him try to closeout this game in the 4th quarter. Made clutch shots near the end. Sorry refs, Igoudala beat Rubio to the spot on the charge… That was a critical call in the game – absolutely blown… If Iggy had the open look instead of Barnes? A Ws win. Iggy is that clutch and unafraid to take the big shot when he was the man in Philly.

As a matter of opinion, I think Iggy should set all game ending screens with Curry – Iggy will more likely can that shot on an inevitable Curry double-team… Because Iggy has the clutch gene.

Yes, because I think Harrison Barnes shoots a better three-ball than Kevin Love winning that perimeter game and would actually pull Love away from the paint – resulting in less rebounds. Adelman’s smart though and would adjust immediately.

Huh? I meant in general not just in the Wolves game. And I disagree that Barnes is a better 3 point shooter than Love. He seems like a slightly above average spot up shooter. And 70% from the stripe is not consistent him being anything more than that.

I’d like to think Stephen Curry can guard a non-shooter like PG Ricky Rubio straight up. Just play Crawford a few minutes at PG for 15 minutes for heaven’s sake! Crawford needs minutes to get ready for the playoffs…

Common sense – Curry’s heavy minutes also drops his shooting percentages (tired legs) and increases his risk for injury.

Crawford – played so well in Boston, the tanking Danny Ainge HAD to trade him! Jeff Green is next to be dealt. Give Crawford his opportunity for minutes now before a major injury and to get him assimilated with the team in preparation for the playoffs…

Our Tired, at no.6, makes a very good point by observing that Barnes “lacks lateral quickness and agility is lacking.” He really is limited in moving around people on the way to the hoop. He’s strictly a north-south player that relies on speed. This limits his ability to get the hoop. Nothing he can do about that given his physiology. Warriors should have realized that before they drafted him.

It’s amazing what being the best athlete on the floor can do for you confidence… even the ball-handling… though not smooth… looks more self-assured.

I honestly feel bad for the dude. He’s not a potential superstar, but he’s still being horribly misused by MJ and looks lost out there. If ever there was a player who needs to be used in a good system to be effective, it’s Harrison. He has enough talent to be a solid rotation player and even starter on many teams, but not the right kind of talent to just be left on his own out there. He’s not Kobe no matter how much he modeled his game after him. Run him off screens… have him cut to the hoop… run the lanes on the break… spot up for corner 3’s. Do that, and he’s at least potentially useful. He’s clearly not a player that can thrive in an unstructured offense like MJ seems to like to run.

Please don’t pretend like scouting is some perfect science and use hindsight to further your war on Lacob… I don’t recall T-Ross or DJ being touted on this blog at draft time. Players exceed or fall short of expectations all the time. Paul George was a mid first round pick and is now a top 5 player. Riley and Nellie pulled guys out of the D-League and made them serviceable players, while also drafting busts like Randolph, Wright (slightly less of a bust), and Udoh (who I think could still be a useful player on the right team, but still not a lottery pick). The way players develop and how their game translates to the NBA is still a relative gamble… only educated guesses exist. You simply can’t fault a team for a mistake in hindsight when their moves largely aligned with the general consensus at the time they made their decisions.

Then you should refresh your recollection by reading my archives on the Barnes draft. And familiarize yourself with DJ, who is a skilled veteran pg who was available on the waiver wire a couple of weeks ago, prior to the Crawford deal, not a draftee in Barnes’ class.

As for Nellie, he frequently gambled and busted on big men (but just as often succeeded), who are always slow to develop and thus inherently unpredictable.

But he literally NEVER busted when drafting wings or PGs. Not once. An unparalleled record.

And there is zero doubt in my mind that Nellie would have preferred Ross to Barnes, as I pointed out AT THE TIME. Because Don Nelson ALWAYS drafted wings for defense first. Always, without exception.

Sure… but did they really “draft by consensus” or have scouting beliefs that were inline with consensus. Of course, if they just drafted Barnes or whoever because everyone else thought he was a good pick, then yeah, that’s moronic… but if multiple organizations reached similar conclusions based on the evidence available at the time, that’s just a reflection of the limitations of player scouting and player projection in general.

Yes, I’d rather have Ross than Barnes…. but Brandon Jennings scored 55 points in a game once…. do we regret not picking him, too?

I’m not a Barnes fan… and I didn’t mean to imply that DJ was in his draft… only pointing out that players often rise above expectations and making comments in hindsight about said players isn’t productive. Again, Paul George was drafted 12th in his class…yet is a top 5 player in the entire league. I’m not gonna argue for the Barnes pick because I wasn’t excited about him at the time (though I had hope) and I’m certainly not excited about his (lack of) development now. I do believe MJ is minimizing his potential similar to how Smart minimized Curry’s potential (on a smaller scale, of course)… but yeah, there are several other players in that draft I’d prefer.

As you said, Nellie wiffed on big men and scored on wings/PG’s… but really, if you’re honest, he scored on some picks, and failed on others, just like every GM/Coach/Scout in the NBA.

In the Barnes high school highlight reel @14—I didn’t watch others—Barnes is in the clear in almost all shots, mostly drives, and when he goes up against other players he is clearly dominant in size and strength.

I rang up The Atlantic piece on Barnes, written during his second and last year at UNC, just before the tournament started (I believe Feltbot brought it to our attention earlier). Excerpts:

“The NBA is a business,” Barnes told me, elaborating that players are akin to pieces of inventory that, if they don’t produce, get replaced by other pieces that do. “But on the brighter side,” he added, “you do gain a lot of capital, and you have a platform from which you have avenues to do just about anything you want to do.” Indeed, Barnes seems amazed that more basketball players don’t take advantage of those avenues. “I think if anybody has an opportunity to play professional basketball,” he said, “to not transcend that into off-the-court endeavors is really a waste.”

The players Barnes most admires are the ones who have achieved just that transcendence. “Look at all the things Kobe has endorsed,” he said of the star Lakers guard.

Of course, there’s one thing that would strengthen Barnes’s brand almost immeasurably. All season, North Carolina has been among the favorites to win the NCAA tournament. And Barnes recognizes that making it to the Final Four in New Orleans this year, and seizing a national championship, would have profound historical resonance. That’s because back in 1982, a UNC freshman named Michael Jordan led his team to the national title—also in New Orleans. “There’s no better exposure and no better way of getting the hype machine going than UNC returning back to New Orleans, 30 years after Michael Jordan, of all people, won it there,” Barnes told me. For the first and only time, he dropped his cautious analysis and let his excitement show. “It would be an unbelievable stage,” he said, breaking into a wide smile. “And if we end up winning a national championship there? The media might just explode.” And so, ultimately, would Barnes’s bank account.

And Yeats (her collection, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, of course gets its title from the last line:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

While i think barnes is expressing exact point of transcendental of capitalism, i.e. nothing is what is is, everything is what it costs/profits (and find it slighty amusing to see it criticised on american grounds, albeit virtual ones – one can be forgiven a stereotype or two), i find it very sad to see it so clearly stated – you know, even the most beautiful women need to take a piss unwatched.

Ethan ‘weathervane’ Strauss is trying to gauge which way the prevailing, fickle fan-sturm might be blowing on Mr. Barnes : he tweeted a list of the other draft picks in Barnes’ class who could be doing well now with his woeyr jersey. M.Poole, who just tried to manufacture ‘news’ about barnes’ slump, should also admit he called barnes the team’s biggest impact player at the beginning of the season.

Regarding Barnes blocked shot in the T Wolves game: I was as surprised as you all were when he made that block. However, I noticed a flaw in his defensive positioning that if corrected would help him. Barnes doesn’t play defense on the balks if his feet. If you watch good wing defender, they are always slightly forward, with knees and arms bent. Barnes is often flat footed with arms fully extended. He gives the appearance of leaning forward, but he is bent at the waist. His defensive stance for a wing is one of the worst on the NBA and it does not allow him the ability to move quickly in any direction. I was surprised by the block, because somehow he launched upward and forward with emmense effort to get that block. The jump was a much different look than his dunks of the past when he explodes upward. The block was an unnatural jump, but he timed it right.

It is possible that an off season regimine improving his quickness, defensive positioning and ball handling would turn him into a serviceable player. He has never had a true off season at the NBA level.

I like how they laud him for his “shot making” while acknowledging that he’s not very good at, well, actually making shots. Poor first step. poor finishing at the rim, consequently over reliant on the pull-up mid range J- a perfect storm of inefficiency. But the biggest thing holding him back from being a decent roleplayer- and I’ve already harped on this too much- is the unusually poor vision and awareness, even for a non play-maker. It pigeonholes him into that iso role as much as anything else.

the team put a lot of time and resources into that exhibition tour of Beijing and Shanghai, a significant distraction from the normal summer of refining and re-tuning individual and team games, and that’s also when barnes incurred his injury. he was also working with another exhibition team — the scout team for the national squad, or something like it — for part of the summer, which was their excuse when they disclosed his injury.

The dude’s an athlete. The dude can… he can jump. He’s got a big vertical, he’s a great shooter.

More than anything, what I really loved, he’s an unbelievable high-character kid. Our character, our maturity, our culture, obviously that matters a lot here. We got the three best guys you could possibly get in this draft.

And he’s unbelievable. 4.2 GPA I’ve heard in high school. He is unbelievably well-spoken. When you speak to him you’re going to get a sense that he’s, like, 25 years old.

What I loved is he knew every single guy that he played against in AAU. He knew everything about them and his job, he said, was to take them down and prove he was better.

I talked to him for an hour. He was so impressive with his knowledge of every other player and the game.

You know, some people have accused him of not being the best teammate because he’s about his own scoring, you’ve heard those stories. Maybe it’s true. So’s Kobe Bryant. So are other people. There are other people like that.

What I liked about him, he’s a student of the game. Wanted to be the best at his position. I came away from it, looking at the person, that’s the guy I felt, if we could get anybody, that’s the guy I wanted.

It’s as if Barnes dedicated himself to looking like a great basketball player rather than actually being one. And nothing impresses more than breaking away and slamming down sensational dunks. These are what made highlight reels nationwide and got him so much attention last year. Add to that a pretty good looking shot, and you’re set. And that’s about all he can do. If he isn’t guarded.

The latest Warrior ad has it right, showing him dunk over a fan half his size then patting him on the head.

It worked in Iowa. I doubt we’d ever have heard of him had he grown up on the playgrounds of Philly. And it didn’t work so well at UNC and isn’t working here. He’s just not that good.

Isolation plays, dunks, three point shots—there’s a common thread. They’re all about spotlighting Barnes and making him shine above the crowd.

I don’t fault Barnes. Rather, he slipped into a promotional game that allowed all this to happen. Nor do I think he’s being crass or self-centered, or don’t see cause to single him out. He’s playing the game he has been offered. But I marvel at his naïveté and question the sequence. You’re supposed to start cashing in AFTER you prove yourself at least as a scorer in the NBA, not BEFORE.

In the meantime, the fans ate it up because of a handful of huge dunks and the FO PR machine, which won a bunch of awards this season. Getting Barnes onto the All Star ballot might have been their greatest accomplishment. When anyone averages less than 11 and 5 off the bench, they have no business being in the AS game conversation.

If Jackson refuses to play Barnes at spread 4, he has little to no value for the Warriors as they make a playoff push. Trade him.

This paper leverages STATS’ SportsVu Optical Tracking data to deconstruct several previously hidden aspects of rebounding. We are able to move beyond the outcome of who got the rebound to discover the non-linear relationship between shot location and its impact on offensive rebound rates, implications of the height of where rebounds are obtained, and estimates of where players should move in order to improve rebounding rates. We also leverage machine-learning methods to estimate the predictability of rebounding.

barnes only 21. In 3 yrs he could be much improved. He may not have a heart but he can run and develop his shot. Ive already said his ceiling is a better Glenn Rice. GR was a flawed but prolific player who developed into a ++ player. Basement for HB a better Kyle Korver, if he solely works on his shot.
Blazrs gave us a gift tonite..

– On offense, the Ws played a faster pace with more ball movement, more 2- and 3-man offense, fewer iso’s, and only 9 total TOs.
– Great defensive performance from Lee on Aldridge!
– Draymond’s defensive mayhem! With Green on the floor, the Ws stretched their lead to 22. After he fouled out, the lead shrank.
– And oh yeah, ho-hum, our resident superstar went 13-23 for 38 points with 9 assists, 2 steals, 7 rebounds and only 2 TOs.

David Lee was awesome tonight. With Aldridge a bit tired, Lee took it to him on both ends of the court. The Lee-Curry 2-man game was impeccable and made up for Klay’s struggles shooting the ball.

My only nitpick about this game was the insistence by Jackson to continue to post Klay up against a smaller defender over and over and over again. Clearly it was a matchup they hoped to exploit, but I haven’t seen Klay so awkward in a long time. I think this post-up-centric offense (at times) is the reason the Warriors are not running teams out of the gym. Lee is the only Warrior with a decent post-up game, and even he is better attacking off the pick and roll.

O’Neal’s the only good post up big on this team – Lee is above average in post ups, but it’s not his thing unless the floor is really spaced or he’s playing Center.

I like the idea of making an opposing team’s jump-shooting PG work on both ends of the floor by posting him up with a bigger player.

Also year’s back, Phoenix’s Steve Nash would force Stephen Curry to fight through 3-4 physical screens on every possession. I think he did this purposefully. This wears down a player – later in the game and tiring him on offense.

The trick with post-ups is getting to a spot on the floor where you have one or two or three moves that are virtually automatic scores; you must have the moves and you must get to the spot or else pass out and repost or get some ball movement going. Dubs too often are slow to set up the post up, leaving the player to sometimes take less than an “automatic” shot. Another reason to always run.

7 games in 10 days—the schedule caught up with Portland. Their starters almost play as many minutes as ours.

The Warriors need a bona fide 6th. man, a reliable scorer. Maybe it could be Crawford, if cut loose.

Today’s fantasy: trade Barnes for Marcus Morris (in the hopes he develops if given more time and attention, because I doubt Phoenix would let Markieff go) and if lucky pick up a draft pick. Don’t ask me why Phoenix would do this, but the trade works in the trade machine. Find a way to dump Bazemore, and/or Brooks if they’re not going to develop him, in that deal or elsewhere, to free a roster spot. And bring up Reggie Williams and see how he does.

Lee’s injury got me thinking. The team could use another sizable but mobile player who might spell Lee and play with the subs. And they need to start looking for prospects here, who won’t come easily. I’m guessing Marcus might be a more effective scorer than Green, but Green would find plenty of minutes. Reggie brings a polished scorer to the bunch, which they don’t have on the bench.

Both are cheap experiments that don’t break the cap threshold, low risk, with high possible upsides. Both would give the team all kinds of versatility throughout the course of a season, especially if there were injuries. And they could put a scintillating second unit on the floor: Crawford, Williams, Morris, Green—and Speights if they need to go big, or one of the starters if not. Lots of playmakers and versatile scorers, more IQ and speed. There should be pretty good defense here as well.

I thought Crawford, btw, hustles pretty good on defense. He knows what he needs to do.

If we’re fantasizing, I’d want to investigate trading Speights for Elton Brand. Only $500k difference in salary. Speights gives Atlanta a big with shooting range. Brand is a smart, solid guy on the back end of a great career.

-Crawford is that 6th man we are looking for. He is learning the offense and how to find the open players, and he is not bashful about taking a shot. When he is hot, it looks like he will be able to carry the team.

-Speights can fill the role that Lee fills, for the most part. Jackson just doesn’t play him enough.

-I have ZERO understanding why Brooks has not gotten any run. He is instant offense and he gets to the rim. Why not have him spell Klay a bit?

I question many things said here, but a good piece on Barnes from a disillusioned Tarheel fan:

But a few weeks into the season, those who were expecting the second coming of Prince Kobe Bean Shuttlesworth came to the startling realization that…Barnes wasn’t that good. He was criticized for having a slow release, shaky handle and, most of all, for having an unnerving tendency to “disappear” from games. And if you came to believe what you heard about HB’s game prior to his stepping foot on North Carolina’s campus, then it was reasonable to be disappointed. I was. We were promised a transcendent prospect, but we got a merely above-average player. Over six or so months, Barnes went from “can’t miss prospect who could’ve gone first overall if he were able to declare for the draft out of high school” to “guy who could use another year of college to polish his game.” So that’s what he did. Long story short, he showed some improvement his second year, but a couple lackluster performances in the NCAA Tournament further damaged his draft stock. Some had him pegged as a fringe-lottery guy, and had he not tested as the most athletic prospect — a result that was mostly unexpected, as some questioned his athleticism — at the 2012 Draft Combine, he may not have gone seventh overall to Oakland.

And he provides some interesting stats, though I question his interpretations, confirming what we’ve been saying. Barnes, when he gets the ball, holds the ball much longer than anyone at his position, leading to bad shots as defenses move in, etc.

with the topic of drafting wings for defense raised, plus the flashback to the Barnes marketing campaign, when he acknowledged that hoops could capitalize his name and personality into a formidable bidness enterprise, we should also note the passing of Tom Gola.

Gola was a key member as a rookie for the second championship in the franchise’s history (so far Phi 2, calinorte 1). combined skills that would be unique today — played like a point forward before the term was coined (Wilkens-coached Sea team w. JJohnson), but was also a defensive wiz and a dominant rebounder. still holds the ncaa record for boards. in that era of course many players worked one or two other jobs during their playing careers, and knew most of their working life would not be connected to professional sports. ex-mates chamberlain and attles had nothing but the highest praise for an ultimate ‘glue guy’ and team player.

My goodness. What on earth would you folks do if Barnes were traded and you were forced to chat about the other Warriors’ players? Who would you rag on then? He’s become a full-time obsession with you. I don’t think Speights or Kuzmic would keep your toast buttered.

In fairness to Barnes, it should be noted that ever since I was moved to insult a major ally by comparison with him, he has had three games in which he devoted considerably more effort on defense and on the boards.

Iggy also stepped up big time in both areas against the Blazers. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a trend.

Your team, if it helps, consider this blog the equivalent of the DC-übermensch cartoon dimension, bizzaro-ville, where things get inverted. the other blogs are fairly rife with dissections and suggestions of how barnes can be restored to the path his fans and the team’s marketing projected for him.

I like MT, and trust him to be truthful in his columns. But he is careful, and always very polite to his Warriors hosts. So if he’s writing negative things about Barnes now, it’s because he feels free to do so. He knows it won’t burn any bridges. He has the team’s permission.

So when MT says this:

“Getting him up the floor in transition works to his benefit. ”

it probably means we’re about to see Barnes become the team’s designated “leaker.” He’s not crashing the boards anyway, so they might as well send him upcourt where he might do some good.

Hat, if you are correct about Barnes becoming a “leaker”, it signifies a welcome change in Jackson’s thinking. Jackson has been very conventional up to this point, keeping his players back on defense until the rebound has been secured, thus hurting the Warriors transition game. With Barnes doing little as a rebounder, there is no reason not to send him off to the races. I do trust that he can score in the open court in 1-on-1 situations, or at the very least get to the line. Remember Monta as a one man fast break? Nelson gave him the green light and he often bolted up the court in order to score. I have rarely seen that level of urgency in Barnes transition game, but maybe there is a change coming.

Yeah, our local sports journalists publish “product” which is largely provided by team insiders. They need feeds from the team, and teams provide it or not depending on how well it helps the team sell their own “product.”

Sports journalists don’t all play that same game everywhere. The NY and LA markets, for example, have some professional sports commentators who are absolutely brutal. That’s their brand, though. And it may not sell well in this area. It’s not laid-back.

Locally, Tim Kawakami used to play rough (he’s originally from LA). Once upon a time Kawakami published a video of himself being assaulted by a Raiders assistant coach. Kawakami has toned it down since, though. It’s been many years since he’s done more than take dictation from teams.

The bottom line is that Lacob’s crew strictly limits access to the team to manage publicity, and most local pro sports writers are required to play along. Because if they don’t, they become… Feltbot, who doesn’t get paid for this stuff. Which is why I hang around here, myself.

I think Tim K. is a good writer but have issues with his journalism. He often sides with whoever gives him access and makes himself part of the story. It’s been rumored that one of Lacob’s first moves once be bought the team was to get Kawakami on ‘his side.’
Rick Bucher is another one who has no impartiality when he is granted access to a high profile player.

Weirdly, this may be good for Barnes in the long-run as maybe he’ll find something in himself to get minutes. He was handed everything his entire high school and collegiate career in terms of playing time.

Felty: When players have minus ratings over many games they are hurting rather then helping the Warriors. Both Barnes and Speights fall in that category.

It seemed obvious that with the addition of Iggy before the started that Barnes should have been traded to improve the roster and make it more symmetrical. Ownership and management obviously had their heads buried in the sand.

It was interesting to read Lacob’s comments on Barnes. Clearly, Lacob and the front office thought that Barnes, Gilcreast-Kidd and Walter were all good choices. Had that wrong.

Keep your comments coming with regard to what the Warriors should do-such as Barnes playing better defense. Seems clear that the front office reads various posts on your blog and make adjustments accordingly. What’s sad that they often wait months for adopting what we all mentioned earlier or ignore all together. Like that the Warriors should run.

I’d be curious to get an opinion, based on your experience as a coach, as to whether or not Barnes can develop the ways everyone wants him to develop.

My other question is how much he would be worth to the team if he did develop in those ways. He’s being tailored into a very limited type of player, as MT II describes, which I highly question. How much is that worth to the team if it ever happens? No one here likes Melo type scorers anyway, but no one questions Melo’s ability to get shots off anywhere and at least get to the line. Barnes will never be that type of player. And has anyone ever described his strengths or potential as a team player?

The costs being sacrificed are wins the team now needs, as well as what they’ll sacrifice while they have to wait—how long, at what contract price?—until he does develop. Sacrificed too is what might be gained if other players took his place now and developed, either from our roster or a trade.

We’ve seen plenty of guys with athletic bodies who are, in fact, poor athletes. My sense, quite casual, based on watching my son and other kids develop in summer leagues, high school, and low level AAU, is that good players need to develop early, and that they develop skills in coordination with their growing bodies, especially if they are doing physical training. They need to make subtle adjustments as they grow stronger. Get strong too quick, and they leave their skills behind. Those of you with more knowledge, contradict me, but I would bet that few players with weak skills, say in shooting and dribbling, develop those skills well later in the NBA, and if they do, they are rare exceptions. Some remain in the NBA, however, because they offset their limited skills in other ways, as is often the case with bigs.

I especially wonder if skills like overall co-ordination, court vision, and reaction time, Barnes’ major weaknesses, can be learned late, whether they can be learned at all but are simply inherited gifts, which still need to be developed over time.

The most unimpressive looking rebounds are, in fact, some of the most impressive—Curry’s. The ball just lands in his hands, but it is because he knows what’s going on at all times, can anticipate shots and deflections, react quickly, and get to the spot.

Green can do that too, plus he has the strength and drive to fight for boards the team might not have gotten otherwise.

Barnes, at best, gets boards he should get, nothing more.

Then, of course, there is the question of Barnes’ enigmatic character, which looks passive to us and may be self-centered, if not self-absorbed, perhaps innocently. Has it been set early? Is there any reason to think it will change? Is it strong enough to withstand setbacks and frustration? My observation, casual again, is that Barnes has protected himself by restricting himself to doing a few things as well as he can, for which he was greatly rewarded in national attention. And he might be able to perform well, or well enough, under the special conditions of the playoffs.

Occasionally.

But after that, he blocks out anything else that might challenge the abilities he has and his self-esteen, and simply avoids difficult situations that might break his confidence down. He has been put on a pedestal, and the drop down must look huge.

Lacob, however, was impressed with his character. See the interview @24.

Curry stayed at Davidson an extra year to develop as a point guard, at some risk in the draft, as he played for a weaker team who didn’t make it to the showcase of the NCAA tournament. And Coach McKillop pushed him to work on everything that year, including rebounding. Green got four years of Tom Izzo.

Barnes should have stayed at UNC another year if not two so he could have developed against less stiff competition. Odds are good, however, based on his first two years, he would have descended into the nether world of second round picks, which some projected when he entered the draft after two years there.

A major motive for sharpness, if not sarcasm, on this blog against Barnes and other players and views, is to break through the mists of the promotional schemes, the miasma of what so many call strategy.

I wonder how much time scouts, analysts, GM’s, etc. actually spend watching college games. My impression of Barnes at UNC was well supported by many other faithful. He just wasn’t delivering as advertised.

with barnes often appearing to be over-thinking on the court, it seems his observers and supporters are probably doing the same thing on the sidelines or looking at video. maybe he just needs to get his nose broken, taking the ball inside or contesting for a rebound. rick barry got his busted by meschery in one of his first rookie practice scrimmages. in one of green’s best games this year, an elbow to his mouth when he was at the rim ripped open a laceration requiring nine stitches at half time, and he came back with one of his best stints later in the game.

I don’t think he’s overthinking, but trying to think with his head and body and can’t. He just doesn’t see things. I really suspect Barnes is simply slow to react, or too slow for the NBA, and that this can’t be changed.

I would like to learn more about defense, and if anyone can explain more why a player is playing well or not, I’d be curious to hear it. I watched Barnes the other night and didn’t see much that stood out. I don’t recall his being blown by, but I also don’t recall his being challenged that much.

Stats just don’t tell us much. Even rebounds don’t tell us much, as some aren’t that hard to get and don’t reflect good defensive play.

I have a bonehead test for defense that does have some merit: How much am I aware a player is on the court? I always know when Green is on the court. You can see it on defense in so many ways that don’t appear in the stats. He looks active just standing there. In Barnes’ case, I am often surprised to find he has, in fact, been subbed in. So often he is just invisible.

most fans miss much of the art of defense because they’re focused on the ball. (weak defenders also watch the ball too much — sometimes this is obscured in guards who are on-ball defenders most of the time).

where do you see the defender’s eyes and head swiveling, his hips and feet pivoting to change his access angles, both for his body and vision ? a good defender is a dynamic calculus lesson, deriving n-solutions in any given second of the opponent’s possession, adjusting his position on the court relative to the ball, all the nine other players, his man or part of the zone, the next most likely destinations of the ball and his man, the rim, the spots on the court the opposing shooters favor, und so weiter. green and iguodala are constantly shifting everything, eyes, feet, hands, arms.

Note that Jackson has recently found an interesting defensive role for Barnes: shadowing the pg ala Klay Thompson. He’s been pretty effective at it in my opinion, using his length to make midrange pull ups and over the top passes difficult. And as mentioned, going for more shot blocks.

Although Green is an impact defender and does many defensive things technically well, he is arguably over-aggressive and draws too much attention to himself (from the refs). His foul rate would be hard to sustain with starter minutes. Iguodala is a better role model. The only obvious thing you notice with him is the high number of deflections. The rest is more subtle:
– the player he guards get fewer touches because he takes good angles and works hard so they don’t even catch the ball
– he helps off the player he guards and recovers on a kick out pass so his man doesn’t get an open look
– he is rarely surprised by a screen and takes the appropriate action to get around the screen according to the offensive abilities of that player (e.g., under, jump, chase, switch)
– he doesn’t waste fouls so he always can foul when he should
– he doesn’t get beat often on back cuts because he has good man and ball awareness and moves accordingly

Another way to evaluate is look at the player he is guarding. Is that player taking their usual number of shots, are they aggressive or are they passing the ball, are they settling for contested jump shots or shots outside their range, do they look comfortable?

It is impossible to describe it all but I know beautiful when I see it.

the u.s. supreme court used to serve as the national censorship board (“Ulysses” by jjoyce one of the verboten bücher), and they’d have private screenings for reviewing skin flicks — is that what you’re referring to ?

If our poor Barnes could pick the right play from the controlled maelstrom of the basketball court the way you pick an unintentional double entendre from a rant on defense and wrap it in an exotic reference to the highest court, he would be Lebron James.

Barnes’ athleticism is a bit strange…. perhaps more suited for track and field than basketball. He’s very linear in his ability to move…but has limited lateral quickness and seems slow changing direction. My friend made a good comment regarding Barnes last season:

There are no good shooters on the bench. The Warriors need another reliable shooter, one who has range and can create for himself, who could run with Crawford and stay in if he gets hot. Especially on a night when Klay is cold, with Iguodala being a light, inconsistent scorer. I got someone in mind.

That wasn’t a problem with the bench tonight….the starters couldn’t do anything! How is it that when Crawford makes such a positive impact, he never sees the floor in the final 7 minutes when the Warriors could have used the scoring? I like our starting lineup, but when Klay is cold, it means there is not enough scoring on the floor because Bogut and Iggy are not scorers.

I mean someone who could sub in for Klay or Iguodala on a night like this. And still open up the subs. And Klay and Steph played heavy minutes, in spite of their poor shooting. He could also spell them some minutes. Crawford should have played more, too.

sad to have to note, the preacher was a bit of a coward, preferring to go down by stubbornly adhering to his comfortable and predictable instead of giving green or crawford some of curry’s, thompson’s or lee’s minutes and an opportunity to make plays. lee is probably still hampered by his shoulder. they don’t lose anything defensively with green in for either thompson or lee, and those two on offense were cold.

The Wiz took away the Curry/Lee PnR. Lee’s 2-10 night wasn’t due to injury, and it wasn’t an accident. Gortat simply ignored Bogut, repeatedly, to help on Lee.

Without the Curry/Lee game, Jackson didn’t seem to have any other set plays to run. Everything was freelance, mostly initiated by Curry.

Despite the repeated success of a Lee/Green front line over many games, despite the fact that Bogut’s man was free to double on Lee, despite Bogut’s extremely limited ability to participate in a team offensive game, Lee and Green did not see floor time together. WTF?

The 2nd team did great! Why? Because Speights’s offense can’t be ignored like Bogut’s. The Wiz had to play 5-on-5 defense. And they’re not a very good defensive team.

The Wiz are NOT a killer defensive team, but they sure looked like it last night against the Ws starters. Because they game-planned the Ws, and were ready to stop their 2 or 3 best offensive plays. When they did that, it was game over because MARK JACKSON IS FRIGGIN’ CLUELESS about game-time adjustments. Pantsed and spanked, Jackson should be apologizing to his team and returning his salary to Lacob after last night.

Iggy is still not right. Saw him wince several times on landing after a jump, then run gingerly. He needs a break, but it’s hard to imagine how the Ws could fill in for him. This is where Barnes’ cluelessness really hurts the entire team, not just his personal brand.

Draymond Green .500 shooting, 3 rebounds and defensive mayhem, AND the offensive floor general for the 2nd team. Anyone else notice he’s waving teammates into position and pointing out passes? And Jackson only played Green 16 min. Jackson is a boob.

Hat, Jackson does run plays for Klay, who was brick city in this game. His shot has temporarily abandoned him. When Klay can’t shoot, he needs to be replaced by someone who can. (For some reason Jackson sees him as untouchable) Marshon Brooks would have been a good choice in this game because offense was needed.

Jackson seems unable to comprehend that sometimes his starting lineup is not the correct lineup to play against every team. Money and players are rotting away on his bench, and its a sad state of affairs because he does have some talent. He just doesn’t utilize/trust it.

Well that was ugly. Brutal game offensively for all the starters, but Iggy’s the biggest concern. Dude just turned 30 and hamstring issues tend to recur…I’m not sure I buy this team as a “contender” in any real sense of the word even with Iguodala healthy, but stranger things have happened. I do know that with Iguodala ailing, they’re a fringe playoff team at best.

There are a lot of teams like Washington that can be easily broken down if you can keep offensive pressure on them. And a lot of teams benefit from a bench player who can come in and knock down shots, who often plays extended minutes.

There’s a ton of offensive energy in Crawford waiting to be unleashed. He could certainly find more time with the starters, though I’m skeptical he’ll add that much help with outside shots. With the subs, he’d be so much more potent if he worked with another dynamic guard, someone to pass to, someone to put more threats on the perimeter and spread the court, allowing Crawford himself more openings when he’s off the ball. And both would open up shots for the other subs, Green and Speights, as we saw last night. Or O’Neal when he comes back.

One or both of them could spell the starters, who are still playing too many minutes. And as we saw last night, if one is cold, Klay, the offense stalls. It’s all Curry and forcing the ball inside.

I doubt Brooks is that player, but they should give him a shot.

Or they could try Reggie, or someone like him if they can find him. There are too many players on the bench now who won’t help out this season in any situation, and probably never will.

On a 15 man roster, there is no reason for the Warriors not to have brought in a fairly versatile player with a good shot over the years. And they haven’t brought in a single one.

I don’t count Barnes because he can’t create for himself or others (yes I saw his two assists), but he has to be set up and have big openings. He had enough time and space last night to walk his dunk in.

Can’t bring myself to write a full recap, so I’ll let Hat’s excellent post at 43 do my work for me, and get a few things off my chest piecemeal.

Jackson got seriously outcoached last night, but particularly in the fourth quarter, when he allowed Randy Wittman to dictate the matchups.

Wittman put Trevor Ariza on Stephen Curry, and that was simply the end of the Warriors’ high pick offense. Why? 1) Because Ariza is long, quick and tough, with a Scottie Pippen like ability to defend point guards. 2) Bogut refused to roll. He hung around the top of the key, allowing the Wizards a free pass to blitz Curry.

Look, when an opponent puts a defender like Ariza on Curry, Jackson MUST go to a 2 pointguard backcourt. He must get Jordan Crawford into the game in the Jarrett Jack role, so that the Warriors can initiate offense with a different player. And also take Ariza, by far the Wizards best defender, largely out of the game: he has to hang with Curry on the perimeter, no? This is a very basic adjustment, Basketball 101. And Jackson failed the course.

And if I were the Warriors coach, I would have a very simple rule for Andrew Bogut: If you’re not going to roll, you’re going to sit.

The only time that Bogut rolled last night were on set plays for dunks. He refused to do it at all for the rest of the game. If you didn’t watch the second half, you could still tell what happened by looking at the boxscore. How? Like this: Gortat and Nene, 8 free throw attempts. Bogut zero.

And there’s the rub, the reason why Bogut doesn’t roll. He’s afraid of getting fouled and going to the line.

Jackson can’t stand for this, no matter how well Bogut is playing on the defensive end. He is simply killing the Warriors offense. Taking both Curry and Lee out of the game. Curry with blitzes, and Lee by stinking up the lane for his pick and roll. And by extension, he’s hurting Thompson and Iggy as well — terrible spacing and bad offense makes everyone’s shots worse. AND CREATES TURNOVERS. At least one of Curry’s turnovers last night came when Bogut refused to follow Curry down the lane, and Ariza beat him to Curry’s pass.

Look, Barnes has proved useful guarding point guards lately, because his length is disruptive to pick and roll. But this was NOT that situation. This was isolation, where Barnes has no prayer.

Again a very simple concept, which Mark Jackson failed to comprehend.

And can you answer a question for me? If Kent Bazemore isn’t on the team to guard this play, then why is he on the team?

The end of the game play was equally perplexing. The Warriors needed a three to tie. And yet Mark Jackson had Lee and Green in the game, leaving Barnes and Crawford on the bench. Don’t you want your best three point shooters in the game? Don’t you want to make the play as tough as possible to guard? Make the Wizards guess a little?

With five guards on the floor, the Warriors could have run something to get somebody an open look, rather than the complete botch they did run, which left Curry iso’d on Ariza with nothing doing.

And if you are absolutely committed to putting the ball in Curry’s hands, why not get him the ball IN THE BACKCOURT. That allows Curry to attack Ariza in space, make Ariza guess about how soon Curry will pull up. Or allow for the possibility of a pick. How would they guard a Thompson/Curry high pick?

With six seconds on the clock, there is time for this.

Mark Jackson showed a lot of inexperience, or incompetence, last night.

Here’s something I’ve been going back and forth on for a while, wonder what your take is: Do you think Jackson actually has more substance to him than what gets through in media appearances? I mean listening to the guy talk in public (as a coach and before that a commentator) it’s mostly a rapid fire of cliches, often couched in over the top religious rhetoric. But is that all there is?

On the last play, it looked like the play was actually run to get Iggy the ball back off the out of bounds. However, down 3 the overplay was on, and did not allow that scenario. It was an overly simplistic play.

To give Jackson credit, he does usually have a certain knack for getting open looks (especially for Klay) off of set out of bounds plays. With Klay struggling, it was obvious that it was going to be Curry with the ball. I think defensively, it was easy to determine that Ariza should start on a player likely to screen for Curry and switch onto him. If Curry has one weakness its that he can’t get a shot off if his defender is in his grille. I would have like to see Curry come off a double or triple screen to get a catch and shoot.

It’s scary to me that the bench players can’t even earn more minutes when they play well. Jackson’s treatment of the bench as a whole this season has been criminal. Besides their paychecks, I can’t see any of those guys wanting to come back next season. Championship coaches recognize when a player has it going and goes to them all game long. It’s a sad state of affairs when the Warriors have had one or maybe two “surprising” offensive games from their subs the whole season. (Douglas against SA and Speights scoring 18 or 20 a few weeks ago).

We worry about Curry’s minutes, but Klay has averaged the same, about 38 mpg. And while Klay doesn’t handle the ball as much, he usually gets much tougher defensive assignments. Also he handles the burden of being one of really three primary offensive players. Hard to believe fatigue and pressure aren’t taking their toll. Iguodala is obviously hampered with his injury. The team has to find more options, within and without.

On a plus note, the bench has come alive with Jordan Crawford in the lead role. As I believe I predicted.

Not one isolation, for Barnes or anyone else. Just pick and roll, penetration, and ball movement. And didn’t Barnes’ own game look the better for it?

So long as Jackson puts the ball in Crawfords’ hands and allows him to create, the Warriors bench will be a strength going forwards.

And Jackson has finally gone with some staggered hybrid lineups. Note that he’s removing Klay Thompson early, so that he can bring him back early to get some time with the bench mob. And conversely, he’s letting Curry play the entire first and third quarters, so that he spends some time with the bench mob when they first come in.

Mo Speights 7 points, 9 rebounds 2 blocks and some solid pick and roll defense in 14 minutes. He’s making it tough to be a hater lately.

I opined to start the season that he was badly out of shape. That was confirmed in last night’s broadcast. But an even more important cause of his transformation has been the ability to play with legitimate point guards.

Every Wiz on the floor had their eye on Lee. As soon as he took one step with the ball, they closed on him. Lee is a great passer, but he very rarely passes after initiating his scoring move. Even if he did pass, it would have most likely gone to Bogut, not a serious scoring threat.

Lee might have busted that defensive scheme with outside shots, but he took a total of just outside shot, from the elbow, at 10:38 of the 3rd Q (he missed). Too little too late.

This is another coaching thing. A Rick Carlyle would have had Lee blasting away from outside, not even attempting a drive until the Wiz gave up on defending his drives.

@ 50 CB, I think you’re right. Why would anyone want to play for a coach who doesn’t recognize achievement?

Bogut’s limitations fueled the Wizards’ defense, and in Jackson’s rotations Speights was the team’s best C last night, by far. Speights 14 minutes, Bogut 29 minutes.

Barnes had 3 assists last night. Two of them were late passes to Green under the hoop. Green then bashed his way into scores. Advantage Barnes, not Green. “Wow, look! Barnes passed the ball!”

The crowd (and Fitz) went wild when Barnes drove in for a slam (for the first time in weeks). But it only happened because Green set a monstrous back pick on TWO defenders (his own and Barnes’), clearing a driving lane my grandma could have scored with. And she’s on a walker.

Jackson’s “credentials” for the coaching job are just two things: He’s a well-practiced public speaker. He’s a former player. The former was Lacob’s primary requirement for a coach. He runs a marketing-driven company. The latter is supposed to mollify players and fans.

But gosh. “Fine Player” ≠ “Competent Coach.” NBA history is littered with proof of that.

In D Green’s shoes, I’d already be dreaming of going to a team where my coach simply let me go out and win games.

Herr Spitzenhut, green seems to enjoy playing for the preacher — he’s been made unofficial deacon of their prayer and scripture meetings. and the preacher is generous to green in his media sessions, just not with playing time. we’ll learn next year, green’s final season under contractual control of the team, how much they really want him to stay. they’d be wise to extend him this summer, but don’t be surprised if they raise budget caution flags because of the bench and thompson’s contract status.

Which, if true, would only prove how inflexible the Warriors management team is. Sadly, you’re probably right, moto.

Green does not accumulate great individual numbers, so on the surface it would seem he’s not a great player. Superficially, that makes him expendable.

In looking at NBA teams, I don’t generally look beyond the current season at all myself, because a single player – when used well by his coach – can have a HUGE impact on a team’s W-L record. And every NBA team will have at least one new player every year.

Last year Draymond struggled through a couple of issues he doesn’t have this year – knee pain and fitness. This year so far he’s obviously been testing his new athleticism, trying to figure out what he can accomplish with his new-found speed and hops. You can SEE him figuring it out as he drives on Gortat repeatedly. Meanwhile, he always helps make his teammates better, because his best contribution is always in helping make the team work.

Agree with most everything. I want to make one distinction: I don’t think the “no-smallball-in-the-4Q-problem” is Bogut so much as it is Bogut and Lee. Either Bogut or Lee at the 5, with Green or Barnes at the 4, Klay at the 3, and Curry/Crawford at the 1/2 would be effective. A healthy Lee is usually the better choice. His injury brings that choice into question. Either way, you spread the floor and have the option to work Curry off the ball.

Harry: You’re undervaluing the Warriors running. I guess you support the Warriors not running. Your’e in good company along with Lacob and company including his whiz kid stat son

One would expect Curry’s two point shooting to increase from the time he started in the league. It has only increased slightly. Barnes had actually declined.

I believe Nellie’s teams went to the foul-line more and thus took less fg attempts. The Warriors have not replaced Maggete’s ability to get to the foul-line. Your saying that the present Warriors are now taking only two less fga under Jackson then they did under Nellie must viewed in that context.

You misunderstood, love warriors running as long as we can control TOs and have players there who can rebound needed to run. So, there is a fine line between valuing possession and running and current team is doing ok but can improve on it by cutting down TOs. If warriors can cut down couple of more TOs per game, they will leading league in FGAs. Part of the reason for TOs is team has so many new faces, more familiarity will cut down TOs.

Warriors definitely ran more and scored more in Nellie’s system, no argument there but current team is more talented to do it more efficiently with better 3PT shooters and better rebounders etc..

I could be wrong…but didn’t we crossmatch last Clips game? Especially with Lee banged up, no reason to have him bang with Blake. Deandre can have his couple alley oops and put back dunks… Blake can’t bully Bogut and between him and Green he’s likely to lose his cool (which is always good for us).

I have my issues with Fitz bit he did make an interesting comment regarding Klay the other day on KNBR. He basically said that Klay won’t ever come off the bench because he’s a bit fragile. That isn’t a direct quote but he intimidated that Klay’s psyche couldn’t handle it.

Fitz is a talking head. That’s it. What a moronic statement. Did he mean Harrison Barnes?

Klay has NEVER had to come off the bench in his entire life. How does Fitz know how he will or won’t respond?

Klay, from everything he has shown, has an immense amount of mental toughness. He does not complain, he takes on tough defensive assignments and he takes big shots. Why why would he all of a sudden begin to sulk if he was to come off the bench? (And why should he come off the bench?)

You’d have to hear it in the context it was said which is why I give it validity. He was basically trying not to say it. Which feeds in to my belief that Klay as good as he can be has shakier confidence in his game than we are led to believe.

That whole “who’s starting” thing can be an emotional issue or not depending on the coach and team culture. Popovich and Carlyle change their starting lineups all the time, as did Nellie. Who starts is just about winning matchups, not about anyone’s ego.

In Jackson’s press releases, it sounds like he treats the starting lineup like a high school honors program. That in itself makes it a big deal. The downside is that he’s not entirely free to change the starting 5 even when he knows darn well it will put the team in a hole in the first Q. Jackson sacrifices a lot of flexibility that way.

San Antonio is 33-13, third best in the NBA. 11 of their losses are to top teams—Indiana, Miami, Houston, Portland, OKC, and LAC, many with reduced squads (I haven’t checked all). But that means they are 30-2 against the rest. Needless to say, they’ll be in great shape for the playoffs.

I wish the Warriors could do some risk management, reducing play for starters, etc., even at the cost of losing games (many of which they lost anyway). But they just don’t have the bench.

“Just don’t have the bench.” That’s not what we saw in the last game. Our bench guys did great.

Right now we have 3-4 bench players (depending on who and how you count) who would see normal rotation minutes with most teams in the league. And soon we’ll get two more injured bigs back. That’s one of the deepest Warriors benches I’ve seen in 30 years as a fan.

We don’t have a bench that should normally come in and play as a whole separate squad, but then you don’t see many coaches do full-squad substitution like that, because it’s almost always a bad idea.

Good coaches use every opportunity to cycle in individual bench players throughout the game, not en masse. It works better that way for all concerned. We’ve got the bench for that.

Agree, Hat! The substitution patterns have improved the past couple of weeks since Crawford showed up in Oakland, but Jackson still needs to trust them to do more. I am still under the impression that what Jackson has done to the bench this season has been nearly criminal. The 5-man units have been terrible and there has been very little rhyme or reason related to his substitutions. Like I’ve said before, when a bench guy plays well, he deserves to earn more minutes. It doesn’t seem like there are many ways for anyone to increase or decrease their playing time (Barnes is the ultimate example of this). Klay, for example should be playing about 20 minutes per game if he is missing all of his shots, not 38.

Definitely agree that playing time is a motivational tool that Jackson ignores. He’s tried damn near everything else with Barnes and nothing has worked. And he has never “rewarded” Green for anything, though that might be blamed on Green’s limitations (poor scoring, too many fouls, etc.).

Klay is a different case. Until Crawford arrived Jackson didn’t have any realistic substitutes for Klay. Even at his projected best, Crawford would be Klay- not Klay+.

Klay’s overall contribution to the team is as important to the Ws as that of Curry or Lee. Even with Klay shooting poorly, and even with Crawford on board, the team doesn’t have an even-up substitute for Klay.

I guess my point is, how do we know if there is anyone who can spell Klay? Bazemore has gotten spot duty with the subs in those terrible 5-man units, Brooks has not seen the court, and the best solution (imo) has not been explored: Curry, Crawford, Iggy, Barnes and Lee. This is an offensive lineup that would require Iggy and Barnes to expel more energy rebounding the ball; something I have zero problem with.

I love Klay, but he has struggled the past couple of weeks and he clearly needs rest. Time for some experimentation.

hey felty,
do you think it’s possible that Barnes is simply being overly cautious this year after his nasty fall in game 6 against the spurs? maybe his unwillingness to drive and get contact is just fear of smashing his head against the floor? just a thought that nobody seems to be mentioning.

sure, and did you see the play when curry’s head was on the floor with 240 lbs slamming straight down on him — missed two or three games. really affected his play when he came back, no. green took nine stitches inside his mouth at half time, came back strong in the same game. barnes has played hoops for quite some time, but now he’s well paid, so he has more to lose ?

Barnes couldn’t possibly play the way he did against the Clippers again, could he? I mean he scored against players who weren’t point guards, grabbed 8 rebounds. Had several nice assists. Who’d a thought it?

LA as a team fared miserably on the boards. barnes took 13 shot attempts to score ten. if his fans want to cite this one game as a sign of his ‘revival’ (revival to what, anyway), carry on by all means.